After living in Halifax, Arnott returned to Regina in the early 1980s. His paintings had worked their way off the wall and became painted sculptures, so he felt totally free to create in any media in real space. Representative of the extent of that freedom is the earth sculpture Flower Bed which he formed from an existing plant bed in Wascana Park using a rake.
A new working method that he developed was to make sculpture by combining manufactured objects, something like a collage. The seminal work in that regard is his hammer/broom titled Reminiscents of an object, made in 1983. The union of male and female associated tools is also seen in the Scissor/Pliers sculpture.
The material the artwork is made of becomes art content in his paradoxical bar of White Soap with Bubbles, which is made of fired clay. And a block of clay becomes an artwork of indeterminate value when transformed into a Gold Brick. Questioning the concept of value, Arnott fabricated a four foot diameter Silver Diamond Red made of metal duct work in 1994.
The sculpture First Couple is really a drawing made with wire and is a delightful visual contradiction. As is Monolith, a seven foot hammer made of partially melted styrofoam. Arnott continues to make art of existing objects with Revel, made by altering a paintbrush, and Eggbeater/Screwdriver is another offspring in his large family of appropriate pairings.